Funeral services were held Saturday for young Aiden Leos, who was shot in a road-rage confrontation in Orange County that has drawn national attention.
Aiden’s killer remains at large – despite a reward that has reached $500,000 – following the May 21 shooting on the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway in Orange.
Only family, friends and invited guests attended the boy’s service at Calvary Chapel Yorba Linda, which streamed live on YouTube.
Aiden’s mother, Joanna Cloonan, remembered his love for playing.
“You would create a whole world with characters within your vivid imagination,” she said.
She was driving Aiden, 6, to school when he was killed, and noted that “violence is an unacceptable way to settle our differences and because of this, my son lost his life.”
Aiden’s sister, Alexis called him “an example of God’s gift to the world. What we should try to be like.”
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that supporters make donations through a pair of GoFundMe pages – one for Cloonan, which has raised nearly $340,000, and one for Jose Leos, the boy’s father, which has raised more than $30,000.
Cloonan was driving a silver Chevrolet Cruze sedan with her son in the right rear passenger booster seat when another driver opened fire between 7:55 and 8:15 a.m. May 21 on the northbound 55 between the Garden Grove (22) Freeway and Chapman Avenue.
Reyes Valdivia and his wife stopped to help when they spotted Cloonan on the shoulder pulling her son from the passenger side of the car.
He said she told them that when she tried to switch lanes to exit, a vehicle with a man and woman inside cut her off. She gestured to them and proceeded into the exit lane, which is when the bullet entered the left side of trunk and struck her son.
She called 911 and the boy was rushed to Children’s Hospital of Orange County, where he was pronounced dead.
The California Highway Patrol released a photo of the suspect vehicle, which appears to be a white 2018 or 2019 Volkswagen Golf Sportswagen with non-tinted windows.
Investigators have not been able to obtain a license plate from the snapshot. The suspect vehicle was last seen going eastbound on the 91 Freeway toward Riverside, said CHP Officer Florentino Olivera.
Officials have said they believe the woman was driving.
Anyone with information is asked to call the CHP at 714-567-6000. The CHP has also set up an email, santaanachptipline@chp.ca.gov, for tips. Anonymous tips may be phoned in to 800-TELL-CHP.
Another website has been created to inform the public about the case, aiden-reward.com. It includes details of the investigation, a photo of the suspect vehicle and ways to submit tips.
Among those invited to Aiden’s service were Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner, District Attorney Todd Spitzer, members of the Yorba Linda City Council and others who have donated to the reward fund for information leading to the gunman.
The reward fund grew to $500,000 on Thursday, according to Spitzer.
